Kedex

Harris, he didnt allow me talking to other kids..Rejected any smile given to him with a frown on his face.. Sat on my lap at every chance he got..

This is the new challenge for me.. No kidding!

Help Me God..

Do you know how much we, the parents meant for our children?

Raising a child is not an experiment nor a try/error quest.. It came with a lot of responsibility.. Everyone can raise children, (even a cat can do it), but can we help them being a true muslim?

(Okay, this entry might sound like an usrah session, so call me ustazah if you want to.. It's a blessing anyways )

Wallahi, I want Harris to be a real muslim. To be the caliph in our small family. In shaa Allah.. I hate it when people love to judge me from my past.. I had to admit this, I'm stupid back then or in Arab, jahil.. But Alhamdulillah, few years back I was an English teacher in one of the Sekolah Menengah Agama in Negeri Sembilan.. At first I was lost, during the assembly students and all teachers will recite Yasin and few other 'Zikir Munajat'... Deep in my heart I whined, 'Is it necessary?' But soon after that I joined them. I recited Yasin with them.. At first I felt burdened with it but Alhamdulillah, it has become a sweet ritual for me.. 

Went to an usrah session during the Little Caliphs training the other day.  It was really an eye opener for me.. If you have a child, please read the points I have from the usrah session:

1. Give gifts to your daughter(s) first.

2. Play with your children.It is narrated from the Prophet: “The person who has a child, should behave like a child with him.”

3. Do not hit your child when they cry.

4. Kiss your child. 

5. Say Assalamualaikum to your child(ren)

6. Do not ridicule the actions of your child, nor call them silly.

7. Do not order or forbid your child too much, as this emboldens them and leads to rebellious behaviour when older.

8. Build your children’s characters by respecting them. 

9. Keep your promises. 

10. Keep a close watch and control over their actions with others and prevent those actions that increase one’s sexual instinct

11. Spoiling a child creates weakness, and a lack of will and determination. 

12. Do not force our children to do things they may not have the capability of doing. 

13. Pray for your children, both during pregnancy and afterwards. 

14. Reminders and requests should be given with gentleness and softness. 

15. Show respect and good interaction between parent and child 

16. A good role model is someone who adjusts their children’s desires wisely and with the correct techniques.

17. Foster the faith of your child in Allāh (swt) 

18. Stay away from wrist-grabbing and bossy behaviour with children.

19. To foster the innate nature of telling the truth in children. 

20. Do not use fear as a method of raising your child, as this causes damage to their personality and leads to psychological problems. 

21. Cuddling and kissing a child is one of their soul-foods. Kiss them and wipe their tears with love.

22. Make our children understand the indecency of sin and encourage the child’s good actions. 

23. The beds of children of 6 years and above should be separated from each other, even if they are both daughters or both sons.

24. Keep a healthy and loving family.

25. There should be a difference in the order and expectations of the behaviour of a child inside the home, and out. At home, allow the child to play freely.

26. Always bear the unexpected behaviour of your child to a limit and do not always take the mistakes of your chid to be unforgivable, so that you are not always compelled to punish. 

27. When instructing your child, don’t mention the names of other children constantly, or compare them with others.

28. Stories are a useful and important method of encouraging good qualities and characteristics,

29. We shouldn't  punish our child too much.

30. Make your children perform solat from 7 years, and fast from 9 years, either half day or more or less, depending on their abilities.

31. Do not be quick to accuse your children of lying because until 5 years, real lying or lying out of self-interest is rare; rather it is due to their active imagination, related to playing or creating astonishment in others, or to the child’s exploration of the self.

32. Do not condemn a child who has tired you with their questions, as this weakens their sense of curiousity.

33. Try not to quarrel, especially in front of the child, as this troubles them greatly and affects their personality.

34. Children have a particular fear of the word death, don’t speak constantly of your death,

35. Find out about your child’s talents and develop these as much as possible.

36. In terms of wordly aspects, do not over-saturate your child so that they go on the wrong path, nor under do it, as both these methods are dangerous.

37. The single most important cause of the happiness of the child is the kindness and affection from the parents.

38. It is important that the parents give freedom and independence to their children according to their capabilities, so that they develop their initiative, innate independence and self-trust. At the same time, one must be careful not to exceed the limits so that children bring harm to themselves.

39. Raising your child properly to love Allah and His prophets.

40. Teach your children the Qur’an. 

Subhanallah.. Every details are there in the Quran aren't they?.. I want to be a better person and of course, to guide and raise Harris as a good muslim.. In shaa Allah.. Pray for us. =)

Harris again..

Assalamualaikum.

Harris is obsessing over books! Help!

He even tried to read my journals, well can you please catch up on your readings faster son and help mommy out to extract these data.. =p

We went to Popular yesterday, Shah told us that he needs to pick up several books for his work..Well, nowadays book shop does bring me goosebumps.. Well both me and my purse.. *peluh* Harris, as usual, he walked straight to Kid's Section with the biggest smile on his face.. At this point, I gave Shah a SOS look and made the 'money' symbol with my invisible 'marker'.. Shah just nodded and walk away to get his books. Well I knew already that he will berkenan with few books that day.. =)

Well, he took several books and put them on the floor.. He caused a 'traffic jam' at the book lane for his leisure reading time.. T__T.. Luckily the other customers didn't get mad with us.. So, being a responsible mom, I took Harris to a more deserted place- behind the Science Fiction's Section, where we sat down together and reviewed those 'potential' books.. Hahaha.. Kau ingat ni Borders ke?? =p

His papa joined us afterwards and  oh my, that was the best moment ever.. 3 of us, reading the same book together.. Well, actually Shah read the book for Harris.. =p Shah later asked us to bring the books  to the cashier. However this table with full of encyclopedias attracted us..

So we stopped and start browsing.. 

Hmmm.. 

Book shop is more like an amusement park for Harris and his papa.. 

Well books, books everywhere~

Hmmmmmm... They didn't let go their hands.. Seem like they were glued to each other...

:-)

Hmmm.. Prof Amir Harris in the making.. Hehe.. Insyaallah.. 

ps:I'm planning to 'surf' the books at BBW soon.. Heard a lot of good reviews everywhere on my FB.. Everyone else already uploaded photos of their books and hmmm I just can't wait.. =)

Harris' intervention

Assalamualaikum...

Harris is trying to keep up with mommy's activity, I supposed.. Or is he getting bored being a 3 year old toddler? I've bought you lotsa toys already son.. Tired of them? Are you?

T__T

Well first, he replied my friends' messages, answering calls with lotsa hellos and if he's in the bad mood he'd leave the callers on hold for nothing.. and as I was refreshing my own blog, I found out that:

Yeah, he has posted one of his selca photo in my blog.. (You may refer to my previous entry, I decided to keep his very first entry..Anyways Harris, thanks for being mommy's first Guest Writer..hehehe)

I blamed myself for not logging out from Blogger just now.. 

But Harris, c'mon..Seriously? Are you ready to have your own blog and Whatsapp account? 

Are you son?

There are lotsa things that made me feel grateful today.. One of them is, 2 out of the 4 assignments that need to be submitted end of this week, well let's just say I've finished them..Hohoho... I'm quite impressed with myself..But, yeah.. I will have a quiz this Friday and a presentation this Saturday.. Seriously no hanky panky all along.. I need to focus.. FOCUS!

ps: Guys, I have an announcement to make! Alhamdulillah.. I just received a very awesome news..More than what I'm expecting.. (by me, using the word expecting, do not misinterpret..)Nope, I'm not pregnant-yet..But, this news is just awesome! Can't wait to tell you guys...So stay tuned la eh...

Alhamdulillah.. =)

Hmmmmm...Huh?

My supervisor pm(ed) me this afternoon.. Asking about my final topic for my seminar paper.. 

The one and only topic that is now lingering in my brain is- Early Childhood Education.. Yeah, it is not really THAT conducive for some people.. I know, but who cares? I should get the chemistry with my project paper, yes? Yeah.. but I still need to narrow it down to more specific title..and that's the main issue.. Hahahaha...

*Cringed*

I am really interested in reading anything beneficial for Harris's education, hence the topic... Well, I wouldn't mind reading all the other articles related to education but my heart felt warmer whenever I'm reading materials that are related to my son.. For example, how flash cards stimulate a child's mind and how colors affect a child's brain... How our voice tone in speaking reflects their interest in speaking, reading and whatnot.. 

Well... 
I believe that we can kill two birds with one stone (with Hercules strength, I bet) .. So yeah

ps: I'm getting bored by staying at home now.. Who wouldn't with Harris' sleeping pattern? He will wake up at 11:30 daily... Convenient at first, but now I felt worn out, ironically... There are days where  I dreamt about becoming a kindergarten's teacher.. I know the salary wouldn't be that much but, I think it will help me with my dissertation paper.. Plus, I could learn the actual way of dealing with toddlers.. A day trip with my students to the zoo..Who would say no to that? (Ramadhan, I know you will..LOL)

Hmmmmm... 

Should I apply or should I not? - Suraya Shakespeare..

Similar

Yeah yeah yeah.. 

He does look like his father..

Haha.. as handsome as his father..I could live with that..

:-p

He is turning 4 in 2013.. That's unfair tho.. His was born on the 5th September 2009.. So by right, he will only (well supposedly) be a 4 year old boy on September.. That is 9 months ahead from January.. 

*sigh*

Oh yeah.. Anyways..The main reason for this entry would be...ermmm...to tell you guys..that Harris can already read.. Well, okay, he can only read simple words..But I don't care-I'm still happy! Hehe..Alhamdulillah.. Yeay!! Applause for him~!!! I noticed it just now, after the Maghrib prayer... He brought my text book from my bag and he turned to the first page and read, " Big..Girl.." Okay, it was not my text book btw..I just exaggerated it a bit.. =p It was a novel by Danielle Steel, fyi.. The novel's cover illustrated a girl licking a spoon..So there is no possibility of him guessing the word, yes? 

Or if he is trying to guess, it would lead to something 18sx, wouldn't it? 

So what I did was, I quickly grabbed my sketchbook and start jotting down a few phonics words.. 

You know, ad,bad,rad,fad,cad,had,lad bla bla bla.. and then I showed the words to him and asked him to recite the words written on the chart (yeah, I made a chart..I'm quick like that!).. Masyaallah.. He recited almost  all the words in a glance.. 

Okay la for a 3 year old boy kan? He enjoyed reading the chart and he did ask for more charts from me.. Sure son, I'll do it first thing in the morning all right? 

Ps: Earlier this morning, I posted his video- reading from his picture dictionary.. I received a few comments, stated that Harris has got this British Accent.. C'mon...Seriously?  Whatever accent he is using, he really makes me proud nonetheless.. Ironically, he can read and even spell but he still can't utter a complete sentence...

Man man yeah? Take your time Harris.. I'll be here to guide you.. Insyaallah.. =)

He makes my heart smile...

AH: Mommy...Baboon...

Me:What? Do you mean balloon?

AH: Baboon... * He stands up and later on he bends his knees*

Me: Huh? *Didn't expect that he knew the word 'baboon'*

AH: Baboon... (showing the baboon photo from his iPod)

Similar! Isn't it? Bravo son... But you are way much cuter than this baboon... Huh!

Anyways, a lesson learned! Never underestimate a child's ability..NEVER!

...and NEVER leave your phone unattended..

NEVER!

Why?

*sigh*

Now...Who would expect these selca photos in their phone?

No one!

Oh Harris...

Oh boy...

You are just like mommy!

T___T

Fun day

Awwwwww...Look at the photo above.. He has grown up so fast... Bought that Skip*Hop backpack a while ago.. It does look good on him, right? Actually I'm more in love with the owl design, but yeah..It's too girlish for a boy..

Okay..

Me and Harris are currently in happy mood... We started the day with, well my home cooked breakfast.. Nothing fancy, I made omelette with mushrooms and some cheese on top of it.. Hehehe.. We need that cheesiest breakfast for an awesome start of the day kan?

So we went to Muar this morning..Found nothing much there.. So we quickly went to my previous school - the famous Science Muar to show Harris where he should go for his secondary school.. Hihi.. He would be in batch 43, I think.. Whoahhh so cute.. hehehe... Anyway, the school still look familiar for me... Nothing much has changed.. Gosh... It has been 12 years since I left school.. I'm olddddddd...Hoonooooo!!

After having quite some fun at Muar, we went straight back to BP... Saw this 'lori durian' and begged husband to stop so I can have some yummy durian.. Hehe..  Harris was so excited when he saw those durians.. He called it 'star fruit'.. Yeah, I can relate with that.. Hehe..But he hated durian so much.. He literally said, 'Eiii jijik' for few times... Hmmmm... X geng la cani.. =(

On our way back home, hubby suggested that we should bring Harris to BP Water Park.. I didn't even notice that there is a Water Park in BP.. Shame on me.. When we reached the parking area, I told hubby that this place looks so creepy.. It's like a monitor lizard's housing area.. Scary, I swear! But when we reached the main entrance I saw a hell lot of people there in the water- having fun.. and I'm quite impressed with the surrounding.. So we had fun today.. Uh, Harris had fun today.. Haha.. Will definitely pay a second visit soon.. 

ps: Hujan. =)

DIY Scrabble Tiles

Harris is getting excited with letters now.. He always uses my iPhone notepad to build up words.. Well he does impressed me-a lot! Alhamdulillah... 

So yeah, before starting with my DIY project today, I've thought of getting him a Scrabble set. But Shah said we will only wasting our money (we're not rich) if he refuses to use the set.. It makes sense.. But I can't stand watching his tiny fingers tapping the small keypad... So I came up with this idea:

A Cheapskate Scrabble Set!

Erm.. Basically I just used a scissor, ruler, pencil and permanent marker for this project... It was the simplest thing to do but heck it works wonders! (Patting my own shoulder)... Harris loves the game and he can't  stop building words from the cut outs~!! I'm one happy mommy! At first I'm planning to paint them with acrylic paint, but he doesn't bother about the colors, I think...

Anyways, it was an easy one, right? The only challenge would be deciding which letters to include in your own DIY! I mean how many As and Bs and Cs are enough for a set of scrabble game? Oh, and I guess there's the challenge of teaching Harris how to put back all letters in the box after he's done with the game.. Well at least they are not as hard and pointy as Lego .. At least I won't injure myself if I accidentally step on them.. Right...? T__T

I'm a teacher and forever will be a teacher.. I don't care if no one appreciates my effort in teaching them but I want to be my son's best teacher..His friend, mentor and coach in his study... To ambitious? Maybe. Be it.. 

Okay look, I already bought a magnetic ABC letters which were made from plastic and tiny magnets, but but but....The letters are not in sufficient amount to build even a word ( Okay, I'm exaggerating, you can build few words with them).. 

Harris got panicked when he fails to spell BALL... 

B

A

L

(air mata bergenangan)

There are 2 Ls in BALL right, so yeah that was another reason of this project... pffftttt...

See? 

Do you feel what I feel now?

Wont you feel happy when your son approves your hard work? Well, after cutting the thick box and injured yourself while cutting the letters? Huh ? Huh ?

You will once you're a parent... =p

Disclaimer: If you found this entry as another 'bragging about my son's' and it's annoyingly disturbing your conscience and you are torturing yourselves while reading it, I'm sorry that you felt that way... Please respect other person's blog, thank you.. =)

Today

(Check out my new 'Apple Fan'... Cute eh? Apple fan for Apple's fan.. Haha..I'm gedix like dat... =p)

Okay...

Shit just got serious.. 

I think I can't eat anything without considering the calories in it..

I went to have some coffee with my high school friend just now.. Harris refused to join me.. Hmmm..

Me: Harris, mommy wants to go out.. Nak ikut?

AH: Bye mommy bye~

T__T

Okay

Let's move on...

Arliza waited for me at Starbucks Kepong with her cheeky smile and small eyes (kidding) as always..I apologized and she said let's have some drink...

Barista: What do you wanna have Ms?

Me and Arliza: Caramel latte and Iced Caramel Frappuccino! Both tall size~!

Yeah, same drinks as always.. We've known each other since 1999.. That's 13 years~!!! Whoahhhh... We used to share the same pillow and talk about everything.. Arliza, she has the nicest handwriting- ever~!!! Her writing is similar with Arial font.. I swear!! 

Anyway..

She's going to tie the knot soon... So we've been exchanging ideas on the hantaran and when to get them, bla bla bla ..Things she should avoid and whatnot.. Kata orang ada experience.. Hehe..I'm so pleased that she chooses teal as her engagement theme color... Yeayyy~~!!

Arliza..

She is so thin..Tiny little lady.. I swear I can lift her up with my hands at any time.. I think her weight should be around 43-45 kg.. Oiii I'm so jealous.. Her waist is 24 inches tu... bloody hell.... She told me she took light breakfast but eat a lot during lunch and barely eat anything for dinner... I can do that...

I'm gonna start on my strict diet... I'm not gonna die if I eat in smaller portion... Right?

So tonight, I ate a bowl of fresh milk (from a carton) and cereal...  Hunger is subjective, torturing indeed, but we are wise enough to differentiate its outcome. Therefore for whatever it's worth I'm gonna rock my slimmer body soon...(suara serak)

It's a good start eh?

After the coffee session and gossiping about some bitches we have known, (straight face) me and her, we went to find something for Harris.. Well, we went to Popular book store.. Where else la kan... Bought Harris the numbers chart.. Let's Count From 1 - 100.. Yeah, this one should be a tricky one for him.. Last time he was showing off his skill in counting 1 - 20... Hahaha.. I'm gonna be your hero again tonight son.. And you'll be opening you mouth widely, amused by mommy's skill in counting to 100!

I rushed up to my room as soon as I arrived home..There he was, arranging his trucks on the carpet..

*Screaming* 

'Harris look! Mommy bought you a numbers chart! Let's learn numbers!!'

*Unrolling the chart on the floor as Harris watched me excitedly*

Me: Okay Harris, 1, 2, 3......

AH: Ahhh... *He recited all the numbers until 100*

Me: That's it... I'm no longer needed here. 

Sulked. Refused to hang the chart on the wall.Campak 'selotep' jauh jauh.. Took my bath  towel. Crying in the shower.The end.

Aquaria KLCC with my heroes!

Harris's interest in fish(es) is getting stronger day by day...

He could even name the types of fish nowadays.. Well, not that specific la kan.. But he knows which one is dolphin, shark, whale, baby fish and eel... (he pronounces eel as 'eyeee'.. Whatevs! Hehe

So when we woke up this morning, Shah told me that he wanted to bring Harris to AQUARIA...We had planned this for quite sometime but never really got the chance to actually do it...

He has been doing the research about it the whole night.. He even took his liberty to figure out the entrance fees rate.. Hmmm..

That's new! Haha..

pssssttt...I got cheaper price because I'm a student~! Phewwww

So yeah, we had fun there.. We spent 4 hours there~!.Well me and Shah definitely enjoyed ourselves by watching Harris's smiles and the way he screams whenever he sees shark or sting ray... That were priceless moments.. Overall Aquaria is the right place for educational purposes for children and adults like me and Shah. If you have not been here, I would recommend it. I wish they would just expand the area to be much bigger so that a lot more interesting animals can be kept there.(and air blowers would be nice too, it's burning inside there...more like a sauna to me.Peace.) I really wish that we could meet and greet the dolphins but there are no dolphins there!!.... Poor Harris, he has been searching for dolphins all the time he was  inside the tunnel!..Do not worry since the other animals are there, smiling at us for the whole trip..Hehe.. The sting rays especially, they were looking very healthy and active! I swear I saw them smiled at us! 

AH:Mommy, rat kiss!

Me:What?

Yeah, what an inappropriate action there you two! Actually they were leading to something very ehem ehem you know? So I dragged Harris to the snakes section.. Homagad! Shit happens! 

I can see that Harris is starting to accept his father in his life.. He even allow Shah to carry him around.. I'm felt content with their bonding progress.. Shah tried to shoooh me away a few times so that he can spend more father-son moments.. Chisss...Rasa macam orang ketiga pula~!

We bought Harris a t-shirt and a fish sharpener.. A sharpener? Why? Because the fish sharpener happens to wiggle enthusiatically when we hold it... Why la fish? Why....? T____T

Okay, nevermind... What really matters is, we had fun.. Well I was so jakun just now that I can't even move myself from the tank.. (was it even a tank?) O_o"

We will be back soon... I'm thinking of bringing Harris to KL Bird Park next weekend..They are having a promotion, they reduced the ticket price! Ehem! Cheapskate alert!! Bing! Bing! So this week, let's learn a few bird names son! Hehehe.. 

Krrrr krrrrr krrrrrr...

Bird, mommy bird!

You wait ahh...

Bye bye Aquaria~!!! =D

Thanks papa for bringing us here~!!! 

ps:I'm thinking of getting myself an aquarium tank.. Well, a small one.. Hmmm